Disposable sheath for hair combs



July 28, 1953 A. NEWMAN DISPOSABLE SHEATH FOR HAIR COMBS Filed Sept. 19,195] R N a mm m m m w N WA WV w Patented July 28, 1953 DISPOSABLE SHEATHFOR HAIR COMBS Albert Newman, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, as-

signor of twenty-five per cent to William Isler,

Cleveland, Ohio Application September 19, 1951, Serial No. 247,313

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to hair combs, but has reference moreparticularly to a disposable sheath or covering for such combs.

Various devices and means have heretofore been used for cleaning thespaces between the teeth of hair combs, including rotatable brushes,hair brushes, towels, soap, water, etc., but each entailing considerablework and effort. In particular, the use of hot water and soap for thispurpose in connection with combs made of plastic materials is open toobjection as causing possible damage or injury to the comb.

The present invention has, as its primary object, the provision of meanswhich will enable a comb to be maintained in a clean, sanitarycondition, at all times, without the disadvantages inherent in othermeans heretofore used for this purpose, as described above.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sheath for hair combswhich can be easily attached to a comb, and as easily removed therefrom,and which can be quickly and easily disposed of and replaced withanother sheath, when the spaces therebetween become filled with dirt orother foreign matter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sheath of thecharacter described, which can be made so inexpensively that it can bedisposed of without thought of the replacement cost.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent during thecourse of the followin description. In the accompanying drawings forminga part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed todesignate like parts through the same,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a hair comb, having the noveldisposable sheath of the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view through thecomb, on an enlarged scale, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, takenon the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown aconventional hair comb havin the usual top, body or back i, with amultiplicity of longitudinally-spaced teeth 2 projecting from the loweredge thereof. The body I is provided at the opposite sides or facesthereof with longitudinally-extending grooves or recesses 3, thefunction of which will presently be described.

In order to prevent accumulation of dirt, hair and foreign matterbetween the teeth 2 of the comb, resulting from continued use of thecomb in combing hair, I have provided a sheath 4,

which may be made or molded from a thin, flexible plastic material,either transparent or of a color similar to that of the comb. Thissheath covers both of the opposite faces and ends of the comb and isprovided with closed-bottom hollow pockets or sockets 5, in which theteeth 2 of the comb are snugly received, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and3.

The sheath is also provided at its upper marginal edges with inturnedresilient portions 6, which snap into the recesses or grooves 3 in thecomb with sufficient force to maintain the sheath in place on the combduring combing, but with insufficient force to prevent easy removal ofthe sheath from the comb, when it is desired to dispose of the sheathand replace it with a new sheath.

In practice, the comb is used, with the sheath thereon, until the spacesbetween the pockets or sockets 5 become filled with an undesirableamount of dirt, hair or other foreign matter, after which the sheath isremoved by a downward movement relatively to the comb, disposed of inany desired manner, and a new sheath placed on the comb.

In this way, it never becomes necessary to clean the spaces between theteeth 2 of the comb by wiping or the use of brushes, soap, water orother devices, and moreover, the sheath serves to protect the materialof the comb from abrasion and other deleterious effects.

Commercially, the comb may be sold with a sheath thereon, and a dozenreplacement sheaths, as a package or unit.

It is thus seen that I have provided a novel disposable sheath orcovering for combs,- which overcomes all of the disadvantages ofexisting methods of maintaining combs clean and sanitary, which can bequickly and easily attached to'and removed from a comb, which is made ofan easily disposable material, and which can be manufactured and sold incommercially desirable quantities, at relatively low cost.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown anddescribed, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a comb having a multiplicity oflongitudinally-spaced teeth, and provided at opposite faces thereof withlongitudinally-extending grooves, a disposable sheath of thin plasticmaterial covering a substantial portion of said comb and having spacedpockets in which said teeth are snugly received, said sheath providedwith upper marginal portions having a snap engagement in said grooves.

2. A disposable sheath for combs, said sheath formed of a thin,flexible, plastic material and comprising a body portion and amultiplicity of longitudinally-spaced pockets extending from said bodyportion and adapted to snugly receive the teeth of a comb, said bodyportion being pro- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,645,318 Carter Oct. 11, 1927 1,760,928 Whitney June 3, 1930

